One of the deepest sources of tension between the West and the Islamic world lies in a cultural and political gap that has yet to be bridged.
While Western societies have spent decades grappling—sometimes imperfectly—with the rights and protection of minorities, much of the Middle East remains trapped in rigid, majority-dominated systems that leave little room for difference.
This reality affects far more than just Jews. Across the Middle East, minorities of all kinds face systemic discrimination, persecution, and at times outright violence. Christians, Kurds, Druze, Bahai, Assyrians, and Copts are marginalized in many countries.
Even within Islam itself, sectarian intolerance is rampant: Shiites are persecuted in Sunni-majority states, while Sunnis are oppressed in Shiite-majority ones. Conformity is enforced, diversity is punished, and survival often depends on silence.
